Medell’n
Saturday, October 24, 1998

Juan Gonzalo Betancur B.  - El Colombiano

ColombiaÕs Economic Model Has Failed

ÒWe are concerned by the insensitivity and irresponsibility underlying 
solutions which only respond to the interests of the most privileged and put 
the full weight of economic measures on the shoulders of the weakest, which 
are the excluded.Ó  stated the priests meeting in Guarne.  These priests, from 
50 diocese, are questioning ColombiaÕs present economic plan because it does 
not allow Colombians to live with dignity.  The discussed the increase in 
poverty, questioned the leaders of the armed conflict and asked for  more in-
depth political reform.

The pronouncement was direct: ÒThe Colombian model for economic 
development has failed. It has demonstrated its inability to benefit all the 
different segments of the population, , it is characterized by its inequity and 
lack of justiceÓ.  This pronouncement was made by Monsignor HŽctor Fabio 
Henao, director of the Colombian Episcopal Social Pastoral Secretariat, within 
his closing remarks at a meeting during which 65 prelates analyzed the social, 
political and economic situation of the country.

The priests expressed their concerns about the inequality generated by this 
plan, demanded that profound revisions be made. ÒThis is part of the quest 
for peace and implies a transformation of the very structures of the country 
and must target not only a democratization of political life but also the 
democratization of the economy.Ó specified Monsignor Henao.

The representatives of the Catholic Church met for four days in Guarne.  
Their position, according to them, is the result of confronting the concept of 
charity with the reality of the impoverishment and violence of our nation.

Poverty on the rise

In their analysis, the priests, underlined the increase of poverty, although the 
statistics tell a different story. Monsignor Henao explained: ÒEven though the 
numbers show that absolute poverty is not increasing, the inequitable 
distribution of resources reveals that our country suffers from extreme 
inequality.  This has become worse in recent years.Ó  

The prelate supported this viewpoint by adding that Òinstead of the social 
classes becoming closer, there has been a widening of the gap between rich 
and poor.  Colombia and Brazil are the Latin American countries who suffer 
from the greatest problems of inequality.  We need to be more concerned by 
this concentration of wealth opposed to such great misery. 

In relation to poverty, the final declaration of the meeting states: ÒWe are 
profoundly concerned about the deterioration of life we are living through 
and which seriously affects, in particular, the popular and working classes, 
whose reaction to the means proposed by the present government are 
unforeseeable, despite their technical rigor and the seriousness of the 
proposals.

Taxes and the IVA

In relation to the fiscal problems of the central state and the proposed tax 
reform making its way through Congress, they questioned any tax increase 
and the failure to improve methods of collecting taxes owed.  Ò The measures 
for fiscal adjustment are generic. They do not target those who for years have 
bankrupted the country through tax evasion, for example.  Taxes would be 
increased without improving methods of tax collection; often the biggest tax 
evaders are the biggest investors, those with the highest revenue.Ó pointed 
out Father EliŽcor Soto, of Barrancabermeja.

At the same time, Monsignor Hector Fabio, added that a more concerted effort 
is needed to confront the fiscal crisis.  It is of great concern that IVA is the 
only measure being proposed, since it is a tax which affects all of the 
population.Ó  He proposes that Òrather than this, we need to question some of 
the governmentÕs expenses, such as co-financing funds and examine taxes 
which do not affect the whole of the population.  We know that the financial 
crisis has many roots, but we need to confront them with greater imagination 
and creativity.

From Where?

For these Catholic priests, the problem is not only with numbers: Ò Change is 
not a matter of statistics, it is of the heart, of selfishness, the wish to grasp all 
for oneself, forgetting the existence of others,Ó  commented Monsignor Luis 
Madrid Merlano, bishop of Cartago. 

Acting as spokesperson, father Iv‡n Moreno Agudelo, director of the Social 
Pastoral of Medellin, called upon the media to become a force for change in 
all these areas; that they not give reason to those who speak out first or yell 
the loudest but rather that they search for the truth, because the media are 
fundamental in forming peopleÕs opinions.Ó